The Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS) and the Institute for International and Comparative Law in Africa (ICLA) of the University of Pretoria are organising the first of what is expected to be an annual series of seminars on African constitutionalism funded by the Swedish Riksbankens Jubileumsfond. The Seminar will be held at the STIAS Wallenberg Research Centre from 4 to 6 September 2013. The general focus of the seminar is on examining critical issues affecting the efforts being made to entrench and consolidate constitutionalism in Africa. Constitutional reforms that started in the early 1990s have either failed to address or addressed specific issues in a rather unsatisfactory manner. With the overall objective of promoting constitutionalism in Africa, some of the issues that will be dealt with are
- To stimulate interest in the importance of comparative constitutional law research and studies in Africa, its diverse methodologies and the African context;
- To provide in-depth knowledge and understanding of African constitutional regimes and their evolution;
- To examine problems that arise and challenges faced in African constitution-making processes and to consider best practices;
- To review the problems of implementing African constitutions and ways of overcoming obstacles;
- To examine the theory and practice in Africa of selected aspects of constitutional law such as separation of powers and judicial independence; and to identify the gaps, consider best practices and see what lessons can be learnt.